Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 103

Translator: DreamscribeOne country, two systems.

It was the principle first proposed by Deng Xiaoping, the leader of China.

It meant allowing two different systems to coexist within one country.

And what was that one country?

The People’s Republic of China.

There, two different systems would be laid down.

By creating what is called a Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong and Macau would be allowed to maintain their existing capitalist system, laws, economic and social systems.

It was a principle devised to peacefully reclaim Hong Kong and Macau, which had held different systems under British and Portuguese rule, and further to eventually unify Taiwan.

“This came with a condition of 50 years, right?”

“Yes. Maintaining one country, two systems until 2047 was the agreement with Deng Xiaoping. Thanks to that, the system has been preserved well until now.”

China intended to maintain one country, two systems for 50 years.

This was because they knew that if they forcibly implanted a communist system into Hong Kong, which had long lived under democracy under British rule, the shock and resistance would be immense.

“Back then China was implementing an open-door policy and trying to improve relations with Western countries, and Hong Kong was serving as an international financial gateway. If they had used force, Hong Kong would never have become the financial hub representing Asia today.”

China could not just recklessly crack down on Hong Kong as they usually did.

At a time when China was opening itself up through trade liberalization, using military force against Hong Kong would have drawn extremely negative international attention.

Moreover, Deng Xiaoping, who needed a new system in order to absorb an independent Taiwan, devised one country, two systems with Taiwan’s occupation in mind.

“China probably wants to beat the England to death. After all, what happened to Hong Kong began with the Opium War caused by the British.”

The Opium War during the Qing Dynasty.

British merchants, who recklessly spread opium to make money, received sanctions from the Qing. Instead of backing off, they brought in British troops and invaded.

Unable to withstand Britain’s overwhelming firepower, the Qing declared surrender, and through the humiliating Treaty of Nanjing, Hong Kong was handed over to the British.

As always, if you point at Britain for most incidents that occurred in modern history, you’re usually not wrong.

“But thanks to that, China obtained Hong Kong, the greatest financial hub in Asia. Quite ironic.”

Such a China suddenly began tightening control over Hong Kong.

“Because they are seeing Taiwan reject the One China policy, and Hong Kong is starting to show the same gestures.”

The shift in stance toward Hong Kong was heavily influenced by Taiwan.

Taiwan, after electing a new prime minister, strongly rejected the One China policy.

Seeing public opinion in Taiwan shift away from pro-China sentiment, Hong Kong began to have the same thoughts.

Why on earth must we be subjected to the Communist Party’s rule and oppression?

“I think it’s a natural reaction. No one living in liberal democracy wants to go into communism.”

That was the problem.

If someone who has tasted democracy is told to move into communism, how many would welcome it?

The Chinese government knew this as well.

That was why they tried to approach cautiously.

“The current issue is this extradition bill. At first Hong Kong was quiet, but once they realized what this bill really meant, the resistance has been slowly growing.”

The extradition bill.

By its name alone, it doesn’t sound like a big problem.

What’s wrong with extraditing criminals?

But if you look closely, you understand why pro-China factions in Hong Kong are pushing for this bill.

“Normally, if a problem occurs overseas, regardless of the person’s nationality, they’re governed by the laws of that country, right? And extradition requires a series of complicated procedures.”

People don’t flee overseas for no reason after committing crimes.

Once you cross a border, everything becomes legally complicated, and forcibly bringing someone back is not easy.

“But if this bill passes, even if someone is innocent under Hong Kong law, the moment the Chinese government brands them a criminal, they can be forcibly taken away regardless of Hong Kong law.”

“No wonder people are resisting.”

“Yes. People say this bill ignores one country, two systems, and the backlash is stronger than expected.”

The reason for opposing this bill is simple.

Now, the moment you say anything bad about China in Hong Kong, you could disappear without anyone ever knowing.

Until now, Hong Kong had been guaranteed an independent judicial system separate from mainland China.

But China was trying to break that.

“What’s especially concerning is capital outflow. Hong Kong was properly functioning as a hub because of its unique feature as a gateway connected to China, and because its financial regulations are relatively loose, following common law, correct?”

If you name two financial hubs representing Asia, there are two.

Hong Kong and Singapore.

What these two share is that their financial laws, following common law, are relatively relaxed.

They are also lenient on one of the most sensitive matters: tax rates.

“In our country, starting with progressive taxation, even income earned overseas is taxed, but Hong Kong is different. Particularly with progressive taxes, the gap is more than 30 percent. In many ways, it’s far more profitable to put your capital in Hong Kong.”

“So it’s not that they don’t tax at all, but they have the clear advantage of being significantly lower than elsewhere?”

“Yes. And it’s also the only gateway to enter the notoriously difficult Chinese market.”

That was why most believed the Chinese government was testing the waters.

“This bill can be considered a test as well. They’re trying to see what Hong Kong citizens think right now.”

“So they don’t actually intend to pass it, they were just checking public sentiment?”

“Yes. That’s how everyone sees it. China’s government doesn’t seem to have any intention of using force either.”

That would be the normal way to think.

But you must not think of China within the bounds of normality.

Isn’t this the country that controls over a billion people through an iron-fisted communist system that runs counter to the 21st century?

And my intuition had already shown me a vision of the Chinese government crushing Hong Kong protesters with force. In other words, the Chinese government had made up its mind to beat Hong Kong into submission.

“When the Chinese government tries to forcibly push this bill through even if Hong Kong citizens oppose it, I want you to prepare a report on what will happen.”

The employees looked at me with startled eyes.

“CEO-nim, do you really think the Chinese government will take a hardline stance?”

“Yes. Setting aside whether the bill passes, won’t they try to firmly seize Hong Kong this time?”

“But if they do that, they’ll have to worry about massive international capital outflow. And the protests will explode in size. The French Yellow Vest movement will look like child’s play in comparison.”

“And if China really carries out a military crackdown, Taiwan will change its thinking as well. Public sentiment in Taiwan toward the current prime minister is extremely bad. But if they see China governing Hong Kong with brute force, won’t anti-China sentiment grow stronger?”

Every word was true.

Deng Xiaoping didn’t push one country, two systems for no reason.

And it was a brilliant move.

Especially since public opinion toward Taiwan’s current prime minister was poor.

TSMC collapsing was big, but public opinion grew strong asking why they're antagonizing China and causing damage to the nation.

At this rate, if China handled public sentiment well, from Hong Kong to Taiwan…

They could maintain one country, two systems and slowly swallow them whole.

But as I said earlier.

You must not view China rationally.

“When you prepare the report, also gather data on how much foreign capital would flow out.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll prepare it right away.”

If the vision my intuition showed was correct, China had already steeled itself for foreign capital outflow. Then where would that money flow?

To Singapore, which held the role of Asia’s other financial hub.

But… suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

‘What if we could bring all that capital into our country?’

Then couldn’t we replace Hong Kong and become Asia’s leading financial hub?

***

“Wh, what is this? You’re seriously going to do this?”

If a bolt of lightning were to fall from a clear sky, this is exactly how it would feel.

No honestly, I had expected that a day like this would come someday.

“But this suddenly?”

“Yes. After the EU declared a no-deal Brexit, they officially announced their stance. They said they would enforce antitrust laws against Kwangwoon, whose influence has become excessively dominant.”

The EU has something called competition law.

This is essentially antitrust law, and if a certain company dominates a field excessively and uses that influence to distort the market, the EU can impose sanctions under competition law.

“The problem is that not only the EU, but other countries are now trying to ride along and impose sanctions on our Kwangwoon Shipping.”

Once the EU stepped forward, other countries that had wanted to raise their voices but could not until now began one by one pressuring Kwangwoon under the EU’s wing.

“.......”

Kim Doo-young tightly closed his eyes for a moment.

What was bound to come had finally arrived.

How much profit had they reaped while dominating the shipping industry until now?

They had crushed the giant semiconductor industry TSMC, prevented countless companies from opening servers and caused chaos, and ultimately brought Japan’s economy to collapse.

Truthfully, it had been a miracle that they had operated this long without receiving sanctions.

All thanks to Jung Jin-ho’s uncanny management, but perhaps that had reached its limit as well.

“This is... something we can’t do anything about, is it?”

“If we say we’re cutting off all shipping operations to Europe immediately, this could escalate into a national diplomatic issue. Judging by the intensity of their statements, they look ready to dispatch warships.”

It wasn’t just the EU.

Countries that had been grinding their teeth at Kwangwoon were now joining in to pressure the Korean government.

“Are you saying our government can’t stop it?”

“Isn’t this a sensitive time due to the talks with North Korea? And if many countries apply pressure simultaneously like this, no matter how much Kwangwoon has done for the nation, the government won’t have a clear solution.”

The government would want to protect Kwangwoon.

There’s a saying: whoever controls the sea controls the world.

That saying was proving true in this era.

But imposing antitrust laws on Kwangwoon and forcibly splitting its shipping business was no different from taking away the power that controlled the sea.

“Ha-.”

Was there really no solution?

In the end, Kim Doo-young rose from his seat.

“Wh, where are you going?”

“Where else? I need to see Zhuge Liang.”

“Huh? Ah…….”

Everyone knew who “Zhuge Liang” referred to.

There was only one person who had grown Kwangwoon to this point.

***

“I honestly have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”

CEO Kim Doo-young came to us looking half dead.

Hyung silently poured him a drink.

“So, those big-nosed guys want to smash our business into pieces and take it for themselves, right?”

“Yes. And they went as far as saying that if we don’t comply, they’ll escalate this into a diplomatic conflict.”

Before CEO Kim came, I had already roughly heard the situation.

The EU and several other nations had drawn their swords against Kwangwoon Shipping.

“What’s the government saying?”

“Our government seems to have no options. The truth is, we’ve practically monopolized shipping all this time.”

“So they’re saying we need to break up our business?”

“Yeah. Even Rockefeller was forcibly torn apart back in the day. We’re facing the same fate.”

Hyung seemed tormented as well.

He wasn’t even touching any snacks today, drinking straight soju.

“What do we do, CEO Jung? They’re saying if we don’t split the business, they’ll force it even with military means.”

“No way they’d really use force, but… the problem is, if we try to hold out, CEO Kim becomes the one in danger. Didn’t you say the EU is already preparing legal action?”

“Yes. It looks like they’re preparing to detain me under international law. But Chairman. Am I the kind of man who fears going to jail? The company is more important than my own safety. You and CEO Jung built this shipping empire. How could we split it?”

He wasn’t joking.

CEO Kim really might end up in prison.

And if the damage spread, even my hyung could be in danger.

“That must never be allowed to happen.”

“No, CEO Jung. I’m fine. Truly. If our shipping business can remain as it is and grow even further, I don’t care if I rot in prison. I mean it.”

CEO Kim Doo-young said this to me from time to time whenever we met.

That he was living a second life.

He said that if I hadn’t recruited him and raised his position back then, he would have already been holed up in some corner room, dying alone in misery.

So he always told me he was willing to do anything for the company.

“.......”

But no matter what, I can’t just send a person to prison.

I was angry, yet at the same time I thought this was an inevitable turn of events.

The shipping division had grown exponentially, spreading its influence in all directions.

That’s why antitrust laws exist.

If one company monopolizes a sector, especially the shipping sector, it can exert power strong enough to topple nations.

‘Still, it’s bitter.’

No matter the reason, to be forced to split apart the company we painstakingly built.

Even I kept downing soju today.

What should I do?

Should we just give up the shipping business entirely?

“These are the conditions they put forward. It’s the report on how much we’re required to split.”

I took the documents CEO Kim handed over and opened them.

At that very moment.

“!?”

The instant I opened the report, it felt as if a giant fist struck me hard.

And what I saw was a scene where all ships, unable to go anywhere, was stuck in the ports.

There was no work.

“Whoa there. CEO Jung, you okay?”

“Jin-ho, are you drunk?”

As I dropped the report and staggered, hyung beside me grabbed me.

“N, no. I’m fine.”

That image just now was definitely…

“Should we just get rid of everything?”

"Huh? Cleanly hand over? What?"

“The shipping business. They want it? Let’s give it all. But for a very high price.”

CEO Kim Doo-young’s face immediately crumpled.

“CEO Jung. If you’re saying this because of me, you don’t need to. Don’t you think I know what this shipping business means to you? You wanted to use it to seize the seas and grow Kwangwoon. So I’ll go to jail. Don’t worry.”

“People come before money. Don’t even mention something as horrible as prison.”

“C… CEO Jung!”

Despite his intimidating looks, CEO Kim cried loudly and hugged me tightly.

“You… you don’t have to go this far……”

I quickly tried to pull away, but he was a big man, and I didn’t stand a chance.

So I ended up being forced into a hug with CEO Kim.

‘……?’

Then another image flashed through my mind.

‘This is-’

It was CEO Kim Doo-young, smiling brightly, being appointed as the Chairman of Kwangwoon Shipping Group.